Learn me car audio brands

Ok, I'm a big home theater buff and it's time to outfit the benz. The PO swapped in a crapola HU and didn't know how to wire it in (it's actually a PITA with the factory HU and amps). The factory HU and amps are gone so I'm left with a crappy HU that powers the rear shelf speakers (either blown or just being fed crappy signal), dash speakers (5.25") that don't emit a sound, and door speakers (I think they are 6.5" and are subs?) that don't make a peep either. Here's what I gotsta do. Put in a new HU, run wires to everthing. I would like to keep the HU price to below $300 and don't care about going used. Alpine seems a natural choice but I'm also looking at the McIntosh DCA 400(?). What do you folks suggest as far as the HU and speakers? I don't want any dancing dolphins or fancy graphics on the screen and it has to be single DIN. For speakers seems quality units can be had pretty cheap. What do you know about MA Audio? Any brands you recommend for under $100/pr? I think I'll find a place to mount the 8" Rockford Fosgate sub I already have.

Model year change is coming soon. That means Crutchfield with have Infinity speakers like half off. That's how I bought the 4x6" plate speakers for our old Camaro.

My only experience with Alpine was with a unit that was about 15 years old. It worked, but not well. I guess age does that to audio gear.

The McIntosh seems really expensive for a car audio head unit. Do you really think you're going to hear the detail a better source is going to give you in a car? It usually doesn't happen.

What model of RF sub is that? RF used to be great back in the day, but they put out some sorry stuff these days. Their higher quality stuff is still good, but there's better bang for the buck.

When it comes to speakers, I prefer Infinity. If I'm doing a stock replacement, I get the Reference line. Setting it up on an aftermarket HU would lead me to the Kappa line. If I'm adding an amp for my full range, I'm going for Kappa Perfects. Again, shop the Crutchfield website for model year changeover goods.

My kids have used Alpine HU's over the last 5, or so years, and they've been very good. I have a Sony in my current car, and I hate it. Panasonic is OK, very rugged, and reliable, and priced similar to Alpine. I would buy an Alpine if it were for me. You can get lot's of Alpine deck for $200, so if you have enough leftover, you might be able to buy a small amp.

I build home audio speakers, so I know sound a little bit, and I only use Infinity speakers. They can often be had at discount prices, and they sound great.

I would forget about the dash speakers, and run some 6.5" Infinity reference 2 ways, and whatever size Infinity 2 ways in the rear deck.

Another vote for Alpine, owned several over the years and got one in the Trooper. The Pioneer etc HU are sorta kid oriented and the controls are not really intuitive, the Alpine stuff is. That sounds like a silly reason, but when it comes to working the things in traffic the more intuitive controls are a great thing. I also have a Kenwood in the Jensen, it has good sound quality but it's not as easy to work as my Alpine.

I also have an Alpine amp and 12 disc changer in the Trooper, along with Polk front speakers and Alpine rears. I wish the Alpine speakers were as good as their other stuff.

zomby woof wrote: I would forget about the dash speakers, and run some 6.5" Infinity reference 2 ways, and whatever size Infinity 2 ways in the rear deck.

The problem with that is the front door speakers are in the lower rear corner of the doors, so they are playing right into the seat, not anywhere you will hear them. I suppose that's because they were subs (I'm pretty sure they were).

Thanks for the reply guys.

Another recommendation for Alpine. I have one in the Esprit now. Lotus put them in Esprits as OEM on the V8's. I have another in my Truck that I bought about 1982 for my first Europa. It then went on the Harley for about 50K miles, then into the Truck. Still works great.

JBL speakers are also good, but I'm not an Audiophile freak. That is, I don't build speakers for phun. I have some JBL GTO427's in my bike right now.

I've purchased 4 Alpine HU's over the last 8 years, and they have all been excellent (each for a different car). Their speakers are good quality as well.

I recently tried a Kenwood in the P71 and am happy with it as well. The one Sony I had was a POS.

A huge +1 on Crutchfield though!

I have cheap kenwoods in all four of my cars. Basically, I just use them for the line in for the iPod/Sirius. They are 3,4,5 and 6 years old, and have never had an issue with any of them.

Joey

I have always had good luck with Eclipse headunits. The cheap Sony that replaced my worn out Eclipse, I would call almost worse then the factory unit. Sounds are clearer, but the functionality sucks ass.

JMO, Crutchfield is hit or miss. I have had some good dealings and also some bad ones over the years. I'm surprised they are still around.

Brian

DrBoost wrote:

zomby woof wrote: I would forget about the dash speakers, and run some 6.5" Infinity reference 2 ways, and whatever size Infinity 2 ways in the rear deck.

The problem with that is the front door speakers are in the lower rear corner of the doors, so they are playing right into the seat, not anywhere you will hear them. I suppose that's because they were subs (I'm pretty sure they were).

Ditch the 6.5's then. It would end up being a bitch get right with all those speakers. Keep it simple. 2 up front, 2 out back,and stay with 2 ways.

While I'm no fan, one of my cars came with a Kenwood HU that works, and sounds pretty darn good, and it's at least 5 years old that I know of.

I'm also in the market for new speakers too. It seems everyone recommends the Infinity's, but from what I'm seeing they are 2 ohm speakers vs 4 ohm like everything else, so a matching amp is recommended?

I'd go with the McIntosh.

The 2 ohm setup is so they can get more power out of the amp. Often an OEM head unit is fine with it.

I've got a set of Polks in the Miata and they sounds great. I've also liked Pioneer for a HU in any of the cars I've bothered to put a stereo in. Crutchfield has always been good to me.

Run_Away wrote: I'm also in the market for new speakers too. It seems everyone recommends the Infinity's, but from what I'm seeing they are 2 ohm speakers vs 4 ohm like everything else, so a matching amp is recommended?

They're not really. They claim 2 ohm for the indivicual component, to get a 4 ohm load combined. Either way, they work fine even on stock HU's.

Bose speakers are 1/2 ohm. Can't swap them with anything else. I understand they did that so the amp can drive the cone further will less power.

14 year old Panasonic HU in my Ranger 210K miles and the lights on the display just went out. Just wasnt built to last

Also who in the hell would steal it? It still sounds great with the Ford premium speakers I got from an Eddiebaur Exploder.

I would not recommend Infinity speakers for car audio. I've had good luck with them for home stereo stuff, but had a set of 4X6 plate speakers disintegrate on me in a couple of years in my truck. I'm in CT, so it's not like we have hot days like AZ or anything. I've never seen a speaker disintegrate so quickly, even the 8 year old stock speakers held up better.

The surrounds on the speakers separated from the frame and just curled up.

While we're on the topic (sorta), who makes a good bargain basement speaker? I need something in my truck ('88 GMC 1500), but I'm just looking for a rock bottom price on something that doen't sound actively bad.

The stock head unit is dead, and I'm planning to just wire up the speakers to an amp hidden under the seats with RCA ins for aux equipment. Where the flaw in my logic?

alex wrote: While we're on the topic (sorta), who makes a good bargain basement speaker? I need something in my truck ('88 GMC 1500), but I'm just looking for a rock bottom price on something that doen't sound actively bad. The stock head unit is dead, and I'm planning to just wire up the speakers to an amp hidden under the seats with RCA ins for aux equipment. Where the flaw in my logic?

Go to the junkyard and pull the appropriate sized speaker out of a car with premium sound. Shouldn't be more than $5 each. Some are quite nice. I know Ford used (uses?) JBL, Chrysler uses Infinity, GM uses Bose. Some newer VW products have a butt-kickin' Dynaudio system!!

alex wrote: While we're on the topic (sorta), who makes a good bargain basement speaker? I need something in my truck ('88 GMC 1500), but I'm just looking for a rock bottom price on something that doen't sound actively bad.

Nobody.

I'm as cheap as they come, and I spend money on speakers. With rare exception, even the premium OEM speakers are junk.

dj06482 wrote: I would not recommend Infinity speakers for car audio. I've had good luck with them for home stereo stuff, but had a set of 4X6 plate speakers disintegrate on me in a couple of years in my truck. I'm in CT, so it's not like we have hot days like AZ or anything. I've never seen a speaker disintegrate so quickly, even the 8 year old stock speakers held up better. The surrounds on the speakers separated from the frame and just curled up.

We have Infinity stuff over 6 years old still working fine. They're as well built as any out there.

VanillaSky wrote: The 2 ohm setup is so they can get more power out of the amp. Often an OEM head unit is fine with it.

That's not really how it works....

Ideally, that's exactly how it works.

Since the topic is up and being discussed.

Can someone explain the whole speaker ohm thing? I understand that it's the resistance across the speaker, but do you have to keep everything the same? Can you mix and match? Is it head unit dependent? Is there performance to be had/lost from lower ohm speakers?

I just learned the speaker ohm thing.

The amount of power a given speaker draws is a function of the supplied voltage divided by its impedance (ohms). An amplifier has a performance envelope measured in watts. If an amplifier expects that a given speaker has an impedance of 2 ohms, but the speaker has an impedance of 1 ohm, it'll draw twice as much current as the amp expects the speaker to draw. This can overheat/burn out the amplifier and/or destroy the speakers.